BO.com top 100 movie lines of all time: May the force be with you, number 1

[baumer]

80 Get away from her you bitch! Aliens 1986

 

The second entry for James Cameron's Aliens.  Entertainment Weekly voted this the 42nd greatest movie of all time.  I personally would of had the line higher, but this is a group vote so it is what it is.  Sorry, I will try to be objective going forward.  The scope of this line is that Ripley has been through hell and back for two films now.  At the end, when she is protecting the young child, Newt, like Samuel Jackson in SOAP, she's had enough.  And when she utters the line, there is a connection with the audience.  Not only do you understand where she is coming from, but you feel it yourself.  The alien queen is a bitch and she has no right to Newt.  So fuck you, get away from her, BITCH!

 

[baumer]

Here the 5 movies that just missed the top 100, by the smallest of margins:

 

What we do in life echoes in eternity Gladiator 
I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. Aliens 

Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs... The Dark Knight 
With great power comes great responsibility Spider-man 
Well it's Groundhog Day… again Groundhog Day 
 I'm the guy doing his job. You must be the other guy 

[Jake Gittes]

I'll jump in again, a nice little stretch of lines right here.

 

79) I have always depended on the kindness of strangers - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

 

Tennessee Williams adapted his own play for the screen, and in 1951, Elia Kazan made a classic film out of it. For many people, the star of the movie is Marlon Brando, who essentially introduced moviegoers to "method acting" as we know it, but when discussing his achievement, Vivien Leigh's tends to be underappreciated. Yet it's as good a candidate as any for the greatest performance ever by an actress, with Leigh perfectly embodying a complex and tragic character. This is the last line Blanche Dubois speaks in the film, and it's a heartbreaking summation of who she is and the unfortunate life she's lived.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSTd1LuiVUs

[Jake Gittes]

And now three lines from three of the defining films of the past 15 years.

 

78) Welcome to the real world - The Matrix (1999)

 

The Wachowskis got immediate attention from the critics with their twisty, entertaining directorial debut Bound, but three years and one movie later, they were responsible for a worldwide sensation. Keanu Reeves' Thomas Anderson is living a life that's perfectly ordinary - so much so that, at the corner of his mind, he begins to suspect it might not be quite real. He has no idea how true that is, and when he is finally awoken after decades of sleep, Laurence Fishburne's Morpheus greets him with those brilliantly simple five words.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PreAABChTyQ

Edited February 10, 2014 by Jake Gittes

[Jake Gittes]

77) Some men just want to watch the world burn. - The Dark Knight (2008)

 

The scariest villains are the ones to whose motivations safe, easy logic doesn't apply. This is something that Michael Caine's Alfred has learned well in his lifetime, and it's something that Christian Bale's Batman is going to learn the hard way himself, because Heath Ledger's Joker, for as much as he looks like a human, actually turns out to be an unpredictable force of nature. Alfred has an effective little monologue about that in The Dark Knight, and it ends with the line that perfectly summarizes a very particular kind of evil.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efHCdKb5UWc

[Jake Gittes]

76) My precious! - The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

 

It's his birthday, and he wantsss it, yesss, preciousss, our love. Thus begins the tragic, centuries-spanning story of Gollum, hopelessly seduced by the Ring. As delivered - again and again - by Andy Serkis in Peter Jackson's great trilogy, the iconic line is simultaneously sad and scary, coming from someone who's broken and beyond repair, an addict whose addiction is keeping him alive and draining life out of him at the same time.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz-8CSa9xj8

Edited February 10, 2014 by Jake Gittes

[MovieMan89]

Gah, these TDK quotes are too low!

[Goffe]

Gah, these TDK quotes are too low!

especially "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs" that missed the list

[rukaio101]

Gah, these TDK quotes are too low!

Honestly, I think they're too high. Yeah 'Some men just want to watch the world burn' is good and all, but above much more infamous and better lines like 80 ("Get away from her you bitch!"), 81 ("Round up the Usual Suspects") or 85 (The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few)? I don't think it deserves that.

[baumer]

Gah, these TDK quotes are too low!

 

This is the history of film.  TDK is one of the latest films to have lines on here.  I think their positions are correct.

[baumer]

I'll be doing some more tonight

[75Live]

I'll be doing some more tonight

 

Sorry I haven't been able to help out more with this, but after pretty much 11-12 hours devoted to work or my commute, I just want to relax when I get home lately

[baumer]

Now, on with the countdown:

[baumer]

75 There's no crying. There's no crying in baseball.  A League of Their Own 1992

 

In the 80's and 90's Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel were two of the hottest writers in Hollywood.  They started out writing on the TV show Happy Days and then went on to write screenplays for films like City Slickers and Parenthood.  A League of Their Own might be their best.  Shockingly they were only nominated once in their lifetime for the Oscar and that was for Splash.  But as witnessed with all of their work, they speak to us.  This line, as spoken by Tom Hanks, is funny, touching and in a strange way, heart warming.  Besides his lines from Forrest Gump, this might be the line Hanks is most famous for.

 

[baumer]

74 If you build it he will come. Field of Dreams 1989

 

Phil Alden Robinson wrote the screenplay based on W.P. Kinsella's timeless classic that has been taught in schools for years.  America has always spoken about baseball with an almost religious reverence.  To some, it is more than a bat and a ball, but something that keeps families together and something that people grow up on.  Field of Dreams illustrates that passion and the line, embodies the entire spirit of the film and of American's passion for the sport.

 

[baumer]

73) Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. The Godfather III 1990

 

Just like the did for the other two films, author Mario Puzo and director Francis Ford Coppola teamed up to write the screenplay for the final film in the Godfather trilogy, 16 years after The Godfather II won best picture in 1974.  The screenplay was nominated for a Golden Globe but was not one of the seven Oscar nominations the film received.  While the Godfather III is generally considered to be a weaker film than the first two, it still packs a punch in many areas.  One of them is the screenplay. One of the reasons the line is so powerful and resonates with so many people is that finally, after decades of crime and murder and extortion, Michael Corleone is actually trying to go legit.  He wants to be a legal enterprise, but as they say, you can't hide from your past.  Sooner or later, it will catch up to you.

 

[baumer]

72 My Friends. You bow to no one. LOTR Return of the King 2003

 

There are several lines in Peter Jackson's opus, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, that have stuck with us over the years.  But none illicit more of a reaction than this one.  Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens adapted from J.R.R. Tolkiens novel.  Return of the King won 11 Oscars, including best adapted screenplay.  What makes the line as powerful as it is and one that resonates with us as much as it does, is that after we have watched almost 10 hours of this trilogy over a three year period, it culminates with Aragorn taking his rightful crown.  He is being hailed as the king of men and as such, his servants bow to him.  The four hobbits follow suit.  But the fellowship has been through an enormous ordeal together and Aragorn, the king, tells them that they have no need to bow.  They are honoured with the king bowing to them.  Even as a person who thinks LOTR has it's problems, this scene gets to me every time.  Try holding back the tears.  It's not easy.

 

[baumer]

71 Carpe Diem. Sieze the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary. Dead Poets Society 1989

 

 All his life, Robin Williams was known for his physical comedy. In 1989, the man who played an alien named Mork from Ork, turned in a gut wrenching performance as a teacher who taught his young students that the pen really is mightier than the sword.  Words can change your life.  Tom Schulman wrote this original screenplay and Peter Weir brought it to life.  This film only won one Oscar and it was of course for the screenplay.  It's resonant, inspiring, uplifting and relevant.  

 

[baumer]

70 He chose… poorly.  Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. 1989

 

Of all the lines in the Indiana Jones vernacular, this might be the funniest.  There are others of course but none that gets more of a laugh than when bad guy Donovan is forced to choose what he thinks is the Cup of Christ.  If he chooses the right one, he will have eternal life.  He naturally chooses the brightest, most shiny and ethereal gold cup he can find.  He drinks from it and for a split second he thinks he feels the power of eternity swimming through his veins.  Because he chose poorly, he ages to the point of death, all in a matter of seconds.  Jeffrey Boam wrote the screenplay from a George Lucas story.  After the avuncular like figure tells Indy that Donovan chose poorly, Indy of course picks the right cup and saves the day.

 

Edited February 11, 2014 by winter baumer

[Plain Old Tele]

81) Round up the usual suspects Casablanca 1942

 

Like the Godfather, Casablanca is pretty much unanimously considered to be one of the all time greats.  Not to make this personal, but I am not overly fond of many films before 1970.  I find many of them stale, one dimensional and poorly acted.  There are exceptions of course, but the majority of them just bother me.  But not Casablanca.  Imo, it's one of the few pre 1970's films that transcends generations.  It's that good.  Julius and Phillip Epstein wrote the screenplay and Michael Curtiz directed an all star cast.  It also won the Oscar for best screenplay. This will not be the last you hear of Casablanca on this list.

 

 

81st?! Motherfucker!